walker



C. G. WALKER ATTACHMENT FOR COAL CONVEY ERS.

APPLICATION FILED NOV-3,19I9.

Patented Apr. 26, 1921.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.'

WI T/VESSES C. G. WALKER ATTACHMENT FOR COAL CONVEYERS. APPLICATIbN FILED NOV. 3, 1919.

Patented Apr. 26, 1921 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

A TTOR/VEVS UNITED STATES onnnnivon ,ensron WALKER, or nnnnwn nn wnsrr' VIRGINIA,

ATTACHMENT non coAL-oonvnYnns.

To all whom it may concern: Be it known that I, CLARENCE GASTON WALKER, a citizen of the United States, and afresident of Bramwell, in the county of MercerandState of West Virginia,'have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Attachment for Coal-Conveyors, of which the following is aspecification.

My invention relates generally to coal mining machinery, and particularly to an attachment for stationary or movable conveyers, the purpose of my invention being the provision of a simple and inexpensive device which can be readily attachedto a conveyer for automatically controlling the passage of coal therefrom to prevent break age of the coal and touniforrnly distribute thecoal to a second conveyer.

In coal conveying machinery, there is always a gap of six or more inches between any two adjacent conveyors and the coal in dropping from the upper conveyer to the lower conveyor is invariably broken into smallrparticles' and is not uniformly dis' tributed so that it is deposited onto the lower conveyer exactly as it is introduced into the upper conveyer, which is generally by the car-load. I 1

In carrying out my'i invention, I overcome these objections by providing a plurality' of flexible members, such as chains or the like, which are connected preferably at regular spaced intervals to the delivery end of the upper conveyer so that they depend from suohend and rest on the lower 0on veyer in a manner to form aninclined plane which spans the gap between the conveyers' and over which the coal is caused to pass when leaving the upper conveyer. Because of the flexibility, of these members a flexible inclined plane is produced which gives mannersof applying the same to various to a limited degree, under the weight of the coal, as it impinges thereupon, sothat a cushioning effect is obtained which retards the movement of the coal and thus prevents breakage thereof in passing from one concally fixed against any great longitudinal movement by the coalwhich rests on these portions so that'the members are prevented "from completely collapsing under the weight thus tending to make the Specification of Letters Patent, Pmtgnted A 26 1921 7 Application filed November 3, 1919. Serial No, 335,410.

cushioning effect is further increased as re,-

sult of the slack andismaller'lumps of coal which accumulate between the members,

v members more r1g1d: and to malntaintheir spaced. relation enabling them to properly cushion large lumps of coal even when they strike the members wlth great force. Because of the spaced relationof the flexible members, a llIllfOIHl distribution of the .conveyer'isnaturally effected, so that when a large quantity of coal is introduced into the upperconveyer, it will be gradually and uniformly fed to the lower conveyer,whereby the. subsequent handling of the coal is materially facilitated. t I

The forms, size, length and distance between ad acent members may be varied to a wide degree depending upon the kind and "grade of coal to be handled. For instance, the flenible members may be arranged upon i the dellvery end of the upper conveyerin the form of loops, or only one en dof the mem bers may be secured to the conveyerwhile their free ends repose upon the lower concoal to the 'lower V veyer. In the latter form, every other men1- her in the combination may be shorter in length than the other members, the short and long members coacting to effect a cushioning of thesmaller lumps of coal and to reduce the amount of retardation so as to effect a quicker feeding of the coal from one conveyer to the other. Should the amount of retardation be excessive, it can be regulated by shortening the members,

spacing them farther apart or using difi'erent size members.

Various forms of flexible members and forms of conveyers may beem'ployed other than those above mentioned but the present tive one form of device embodying my invention applied to one form of conveyer and resting upon asecond form-of conveyer;

Fig. 2 1s a longltudinal sectional view of 3 is a top plan view; and v Fig. 4 is a fragmentary detail view, showing the manner in which the flexible members are connected to the upper conveyer.

Similar reference characters refer to similar parts in each of the several views.

Referring specifically to the drawings, designates the upper. conveyer which in the present instance is in the form ofa chute including a bottom wall and side wall 16. The chute C is adapted to convey coal to the lower conveyer C which in the present instance is a picking table that is continuously movable in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 2, and is formed of hinged sections 17 which are connected by oints 18 that extendwtransversely ofthe table and riseabove the bottom wall of'the same so as to provide ridges.

The device embodying the subject-matter of my invention is herein shownas comprising a plurality of chains H each of which is connected-at one of its ends to the delivery end of the chute C. As shown in Fig. 3, the :loWermargi-nal edge of the bottom wall 15 :of the chute is formed at regular, spaced intervals with openings Whichreceive bolts 19 that project to the lower side of the wall and carry the uppermost links of the chains With the chains H attached to the chute this manner,

' their lower or free ends lie upon the bottom wall of the picking table 0 in such wave-like motion, the coal coming from the I chute Cis fed off of the chains in a uniform manner such coal scattering out on the picking table uniformly so that the subsequent cleaning of the coal by hand 18 materially simplified. It will be noted that as the joints 18 engage all of the chains H simultaneously, a wave extending all the way across the several chains is effected so that they move as a unit,each chain depositing approximately the same amount ofcoaleachtime a joint 18 passes under them. As illustrated to advantage in Fig. 1, the smaller particles of coal accumulate between adjacent chains H, thus preventing .the chains from moving laterally from their normal positions and cushioning the succeeding coal which is discharged from the chute. Asfurther illustrated, the large particles of coal repose on the free ends of the chains which has a tendency to stretch the chains and thus make them rigid, thereby scribed only one form of device embodying my invention andv one manner of using the same, it is to be understood that various changes and. modifications may be made herein without departing from the spirit of theinvention or the spirit and scope of the appended claims. l Having thus described my invention, I

claim 1. In combination, two conveyers arrangedone above the other, and a plurality so of chains secured tothe-upper conveyor and having portions thereof lying upon *the lower conveyer in a manner to spanthe space between the .conveyersi 2. In combination,- two conveyersj ar- 5 ranged one above the other, and a plurality of flexible; ,memberssecured to the upper conveyer at regular spaced intervals and depending therefrom to'zprovide aflexible in clined plane between the two conveyers.

3.1111 combination, a chute, a picking i table disposed below said chute and com"- pris'in-g hinged sectionshaving joints dis posed above the bottom wall of the table and extending transversely thereof, and a plurality of fleXi-ble members secured tot-he delivery end of the chute and having their free ends lying onthe-picking table and adapted to be engaged by said joints for imparting a wave-like motion to the members when the'picking table is moved.

4. A device of the character described comprising a plurality of flexible members adapted to be secured to the delivery end of a conveyer' in such manner that portions of the members lie'upon the picking table 7 to provide inclined portions betWeen the chutea-nd table. 1 j

. 5,. In combination, a conveyer, and a plurality of flexible members secured "to the delivery end of said conveyer and depending therefrom. a

6. In combination, a conveyor, and a plurality of chains secured at one of their ends to the delivery end of'saidf conveyer, with their free, ends depending from saidconveyer, i

7.111 combination, a conveyer, and a plurality of chainssecured at one of their ends .to the delivery end of said conveyer, said chains being secured atregularly spaced in- 1 tervals upon said conveyor. V

8. In, combination, two conveyers arranged one above'the other, and a flexible inclined plane made up of flexible independently movable-sections secured to and de-: pending from the delivery end of the upper conveyer and having a portion thereof resting upon the lower conveyor.

9. In combination, two conveyers' arranged one above the other and adapted to convey coal from the upper conveyer to the lower conveyer, and flexible means carried by the upper conveyer and contacting with the lower conveyer for controlling the passage of coal therefrom so as to uniformly distribute the coal onto the lower conveyer and to prevent breakage thereof during its passage.

10. In combination, at delivering conveyer,

and a traveling receiving conveyer,' and ing conveyer so as tonniformly distribute 15 the materlal onto the receiving conveyer and to prevent breakage thereof during its passage.

CLARENCE GASTON 'WALKER. 

